The Urban Condition; People and Policy in the Metropolis.

Although the 29 diverse papers cover a wide range, from the feelings of Puerto Rican slum dwellers about their homes to the behavior of rats in crowded cages, and from case histories to theoretical discussions of simulated models, there is a basic unity of attitude and goal.

Abstract

Since we are recognizing more and more the relationship between mental health and environment, and since the majority of Americans now live in metropolitan areas, a study of urban problems is clearly relevant to mental health problems. This book is one product of the long-range interdisciplinary study of varied aspects of city life, sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health. Only a few of the authors are physicians, but they all—biologists, political scientists, lawyers, and even a landscape architect—have something to offer the physician who seeks to understand how the problems of urban living affect his patients. Although the 29 diverse papers cover a wide range, from the feelings of Puerto Rican slum dwellers about their homes to the behavior of rats in crowded cages, and from case histories to theoretical discussions of simulated models, there is a basic unity of attitude and goal. The authors have worked and